The Faint were formed in Omaha (Nebraska) by
vocalist Todd Baechle and drummer Clark Baechle.
They debuted with Media (1998) but found their true voice when
keyboardist Jacob Thiele joined.
Blank Wave Arcade (Saddle Creek, 1999) indulged in dance-pop a` la
Depeche Mode,
New Order and Gary Numan, probably the least original style that a revivalist group could
adopt (the original being already very little... original).
Not even David Bowie could be so shamelessle derivative.

The Faint became stars thanks to the mediocre
Danse Macabre (Saddle Creek, 2001), another stale
nostalgic exercise in retro-futurism
(Glass Danse World,
The Conductor,
Violent) made truly annoying by the robotic vocals.

The dull Wet from Birth (Saddle Creek, 2004) added
synthesized strings, but, overall, repeated the same patterns
in a simple rock format
(How Could I Forget, Desperate Guys)
and only hinted at possible alternatives
(Southern Belles in London Sing).

Far more interesting was Broken Spindles, the electronic
side-project of The Faint's bassist Joel Peterson.
The all-instrumental Broken Spindles (Tiger Style, 2002) is a series of
postcards from digital post-rock soundscapes,
notably Twitching and Restless.
Fulfilled (Saddle Creek, 2004) is ruined by Petersen's whispered vocals,
and, in general, displays a less cohesive approach to sound, swinging
indecisively from neoclassical interludes to abstract constructions.

Faint's
Fasciinatiion (Blank.Wav, 2008) was even better arranged and
electronic but just didn't contain interesting material.

The Broken Spindles became a (mediocre) singer-songwriter with
Inside / Absent (2005) and
Kiss/Kick (Blank.Wav, 2009).